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Matthew Perry: Can you picture him as Oscar Madison in ‘Odd Couple’?

Matthew Perry is looking to revive "The Odd Couple."
Matthew Perry is looking to revive “The Odd Couple.”
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times )
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Matthew Perry is looking for a roommate. But, warning: The former “Friends” star is kind of a slob these days.

Perry is aiming for a revival of “The Odd Couple,” the classic 1970s sitcom based on Neil Simon’s play about two divorced men who make unlikely roommates. CBS just made a script commitment to the project - a first step toward a possible series pickup.

Perry would executive produce and co-write the script, but the big news is that he would play Oscar Madison, the irrepressible slob played in the original series by Jack Klugman.

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Could that be any crazier?

On the set: movies and TV

The role of Felix Ungar - the fussy newsman played on TV by Tony Randall - has yet to be cast.

Originally written as a 1965 Broadway play, Simon’s work was also adapted into a 1968 film with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

“Ever since seeing the movie ‘The Odd Couple’ when I was 10 years old, it has been a dream for me to play Oscar Madison,” Perry told the website Deadline, which first reported the CBS deal.

What’s unclear is how a new take on “Odd Couple” will fare in the 21st century, when the idea of two middle-aged straight men living together might strike many viewers as odd indeed. Also unknown: How the guy who played the frat-boy-like Chandler Bing on “Friends” will do portraying a much shabbier character.

What do you think of Perry’s new project?

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